iCAREweCARE, The First Student-Run Non-Profit, Makes Social Change a Little More Social

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- iCAREweCARE (www.icarewecare.org) is the first student-run non-profit to leverage the power of social media for social good. This innovative technology will launch at the Walt Disney Family Museum Theater (104 Montgomery Street in the Presidio), the event will bring together the iCAREweCARE founder, executive team, as well as highly motivated students from around the San Francisco area. Founder, Priyanka Jain, will be introduced as the featured speaker at the launch by Vivek Wadhwa, a celebrated professor at Harvard, Duke, UC Berkeley, Singularity University, and Emory.

"I am so impressed that Priyanka Jain, a high school student, founded iCAREweCARE with the cutting edge technology to promote community service and leadership. I believe that her efforts will transform global student volunteerism and give the young generation an important voice," said Vivek Wadhwa.

iCAREweCARE is a high school and college student's social network for social good. Students can choose what global issues they are passionate about and are able to see what their friends also CARE about. Students are provided with organizations in their local community that address the causes they CARE about and see where their friends are volunteering and can start inviting their friends to volunteer together: making social change, social.

iCAREweCARE provides the opportunity to participate in a global conversation and ask other students about how various issues are affecting people from different parts of the world. Students are also given the ability to "rate their experience" at an organization (based on how engaged they felt) so that other students can make educated decisions about where they want to volunteer.

"I began to notice how many students care about global issues but don't know what to do about it. I realized our generation has never had a platform where we can find opportunities to act locally with our friends, as well as engage in a global conversation about these problems," said Priyanka Jain, founder of iCAREweCARE. "Community service is a meaningful experience that is much more fun and impactful when done with friends through social networks, and iCAREweCARE is the first non-profit to encourage social change to be social."

About iCAREweCARE:

iCAREweCARE was founded to solve three main challenges:

1. To get students to CARE about global causes and take action in their communities.

2. To amplify the voice of the youth.

3. To change the reputation of community service being a "job."

iCAREweCARE addresses these by providing students with opportunities to get involved in their area, starting a conversation between students around the world, and making it easy for students to volunteer with their friends.

Their mission is to create a globally aware, socially responsible, and action oriented generation. They aim to help students take initiative and leadership roles in the movement for social change.

The current iCAREweCARE team has already gathered several high schools and colleges in the United States, including Yale and MIT, and three international schools. iCAREweCARE expects to add many more high schools and colleges in the coming weeks. 

Priyanka was recently honored by the United Nations Foundation's Girl Up program as a "Teen Role Model" to inspire girls to get involved in their communities. She was also selected by Smart Girl's Way as one of the top 100 women entrepreneurs, the youngest recipient of this award.

Priyanka's commitment to creating an action-oriented generation to make a difference in the world is clear. She states, "I believe that students today have more power than ever before. We are visionary; we see possibilities and solutions to world problems, not just boundaries. With iCAREweCARE, we will have the opportunity to come together through social networking for social good."

About Priyanka Jain:

Priyanka is a high school junior and social entrepreneur. A strong believer in women's education, she founded the Women's Initiative at QuestBridge to connect bright, low-income girls to the nations top universities. She is also the founder of the high school chapter of Circle of Women, a student-run non-profit that builds schools for girls in developing countries.

Priyanka was recently asked to speak at the Global Women's Forum in Deuville, France to discuss the disparity facing women in the world market. Last summer, she spoke at the iEARN annual summit for over 60 students from almost 40 different countries to encourage students to realize their potential and take action in their communities. She was also a high school ambassador at the Singularity University Graduate Studies Program, which brings together graduate students and business leaders to stimulate innovative solutions using the best technologies to solve the world's most pressing challenges.

She is also a National Honor Society member and youth grant maker at the Seattle Foundation.

Priyanka will be joined by her highly motivated team: Carrie Rotkis (Director of Marketing), Sam Nordstrom (Director of Communications), Tejal Angolkar (Director of Outreach), Ryan Werfelli, and Kelly Pike, to kick off what will revolutionize community service for students around the world.

The team will be available for interviews.

SOURCE iCAREweCARE